thinkin

I think it's mostly about NVH. The GS isn't nearly as smooth and quiet, and those things tend to diminish the sensation of acceleration.

monkeybutt

Oh hey, thanks for the "howdy". I actually check in quite often to see what folks are doing on their LSs.

Caddyowner may I offer much belated condolences on the passing of your wife. Several times I started to compose a response as such. It was just me being odd and not wanting to imply an unwonted familiarity when so many nice folk on the forum have expressed their feelings so well.

And lastly Sir, congrats on becoming a forum moderator! As I frequent several car forums, your comments resonate as a 'voice of reason' as people - myself included- can go so over the top about their rides. Cheers Club Lexus.

sdls

Doesn't the GS430 have different gearing? That would account for the difference. The GS430 also got far worse fuel economy than the LS430, despite being much lighter weight, again due to the racy gearing.

warminwisc

04 LS 6 speed tranny 04 GS 5 speed tranny
GS gets 16/22 mpg's LS rated at 17/25 hwy city?
GS 0-60 5.8 LS 0-60 5.9
Not sure of changes in 05-06

1QWKGS4

iTrader: (3)

I had a '05 LS430 Ultra and it is alittle less "oomph" than my GS but not much.. its just as powerful and on the hwy the LS is KING of the Road. I use to cruise at 100+ mph on trips, smooth as butter and powerful and can pass easy, too easy..

The thing that i notice thats different than my GS430 which is almost identical drive train and the only difference i felt is the the gas pedal. The pedal on the LS seems more NUMB, i'm pretty sure Lexus intended to "Retard" the pedal response so the car feels more Luxurious on take offs rather than quicker/sportier take offs on the GS's.

I'm pretty sure its the throttle response setting - I would suggest trying the "Sprint Booster" to pep up the pedal response if you feel your LS is lacking. I was alittle annoyed by the the pedal feel myself and thought Had I kept my LS, The SPRINT BOOSTER would be my first mod..

caddyowner

Thanks for the kind words. As for the "Voice of reason", I have some adult children that would argue that point with you. LOL

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

As some members have already mentioned, there may be a difference in the gearing that changes the feel.

Another difference is the sound level and driver isolation. The LS is a much quieter car inside and a lot of what you sense when you stomp on the gas is muted vs the GS. Doesn't feel as fast when it doesn't make as much racket

oxonian007

I had a similar perception when I got my LS - why does it behave in such a restrained way on takeoff? Then I turned on PWR and got more or less the same. The PWR setting does raise the shift points, but it didn't materially change the takeoff.

What DID seem to change the performance at takeoff was turning off the nanny, i.e. the traction control. Tromp the throttle with the traction control off and you will get the acceleration you were looking for, basically. It's still a big, heavy car and often carries at least 2 people and 20 gallons of fuel. Combined, that's a lot of weight...especially in Mexican food heaven (Texas). Depending on your tires and the road surface, you may feel the car step out a bit at the rear - yes, it DOES have enough torque.

At least on the 2004 and later, when you are on the highway, you can downshift immediately by moving the gear lever over to the left into manual shift mode. The tranny will downshift to 5 automatically; remember, the 2004 got a 6th gear. If you time your throttle jab and shift correctly, it's possible to get your aircraft carrier snapping to attention.

All this said, I drove from Fort Worth to San Antonio yesterday on hilly US 281. There are many places where the road is a 2 lane with intermittent hill climb/passing lanes. The big, bloated Lexus really didn't have to downshift to go up hills once you reach a cruising speed of 75-80. Note that the cruise control disagrees...if the speed drops 2 MPH it downshifts. When I did need to step out and pass, she did not have any problem giving me what I needed to pass at 95 MPH WITHOUT the trick I mentioned above or being in PWR mode.

Has anyone else noticed that the "sweet spot" for highway driving starts around the high 70s? I find this really intriguing, since the car's driving dynamics are obviously somewhat American-influenced. However, the powertrain seems to have a German soul...underneath the nanny computers. The fact that it can cruise at 90 the way lesser cars handle 50 really says something.

yuri.ber

iTrader: (7)

I noticed with my car when freeway driving, when punching all the way to the floor it goes ok, but when punching 4/5 way it pulls like a train. When going from a stop it's pretty slow from start to 10-15mph and then pulls like a train. The one big thing that I don't like is slow reaction of accelerator under all driving conditions.